Cuba powers past Japan for WBC top seeding

March 6 (Reuters) - Cuba sent a powerful message in the World Baseball Classic by beating Japan 6-3 on Wednesday with a long-ball display to close round-robin play in Asia as the only unbeaten team.

Yasmany Tomas opened the scoring with a long home run in the third inning and Alfredo Despaigne connected for a three-run blast in the eighth for Cuba, who clinched top seeding from Pool A in their showdown against the two-time defending champions.

Cuba, like Japan, were already assured of advancing to the second round in Tokyo after posting a 2-0 record, but the win was important to the Cubans, who lost to Japan in the 2006 final and twice to them during the second round in 2009.

"Tonight's win has a lot of meaning," Cuba manager Victor Mesa said through an interpreter after their win in Fukuoka, Japan. "We got a lot of confidence from that."

Cuba will begin the second round on Friday at the Tokyo Dome against the Netherlands. Japan will meet Pool B winner Taiwan in the modified double elimination phase of the championship.

Semi-finals and finals of the tournament will be played in San Francisco on March 17-19.

BIG LEAD

Cuba led 6-0 going into the ninth inning before Japan rallied for three runs.

The Japanese struggled at the plate for the third straight game, going 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position and stranding 10 men on base.

"Some of the hitters are in good condition, but some aren't," Japan manager Koji Yamamoto said.

In a bright spot for Japan, struggling ace Masahiro Tanaka looked good in a relief appearance, striking out six of the last seven batters he faced in two innings of work.

First-round play in the other two pools begins on Thursday with Venezuela meeting the Dominican Republic to launch Pool C in San Juan, Puerto Rico, while Italy and Mexico play in Phoenix, Arizona in Pool D.

The U.S. team plays its first Pool D game on Friday against Mexico, and Canada opens its tournament against Italy. Puerto Rico meets Spain in the other Pool C opener on Friday. (Reporting by Larry Fine in New York, Editing by Gene Cherry)